Pre-Conference Opportunities

The Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) invites all conference attendees to join ACT Members, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, UC Green, Delaware Center for Horticulture, and experienced community organizers from across the country for an afternoon of service in our host city. This exciting, hands-on opportunity features a bare root tree planting in the Philly area.

Philadelphia residents are enthusiastic and well-trained tree tenders, working in neighborhoods citywide to take care of their green legacy. This informal event is a great way to exchange ideas on volunteer organizing with other community organizers and observe the little differences that make community forestry interesting in Philly.

Volunteers plant as many as 1,000 bare root trees in a single weekend in Philadelphia, so this is also a great way to learn about the logistical demands of bare root tree planting and volunteer deployment.

This is an outdoor, active project. Dress in jeans and boots or sneakers appropriate for the weather.

Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) is the national alliance of volunteer and community organizations engaged in urban and community forestry. The agenda features fundraising strategies, nonprofit executive networking, grassroots program models and volunteer success stories, and National NeighborWoods Program™ tools for community organizing. Geared toward nonprofit executives, volunteer organizers, and community advocates, the ACT meeting is a great way to energize and connect with community organizers working to restore tree canopy in cities across the nation.

The ACT meeting is energizing, interactive, and a great place to trade ideas with motivated peers. Philadelphia is an amazing learning lab for green cities. Join ACT for extended dialogue with some of the nation’s leading green infrastructure innovators and learn how urban forest investments are spurring economic development in Philadelphia and neighborhoods nationwide.